My 4th gr grandparents, Reuben Wright & Joanna (or Anna) Gilbert married in 1798, Sussex Co. VA.  The Gilberts of early Surry & Sussex Counties, were  listed as "Planters" in the area & appeared to be a very affluent family.  The "Surety" for this marriage was a "Gray Barker", a descendant of another well-to-do family & was descended from George Washington's relatives in that area.  

My question is this:  Would a lady from a family of this higher social standing marry a man from a lower station in life, given the times in which they lived & the fact that they still followed  the social & ettiquette rules of England?    

Recent DNA studies have shown that this Wright family is from the line who married into the Jarrett family & many of them moved on to both IL & GA.   However, we still can't determine just where this group came from originally.  

Maybe if we knew the answer to this "social" question, it would help place our Wrights, who were from Thomas Wright, b 1700 in VA, & married Mary Hannah Mize in Bedford Co. VA, into a known Wright line.   My Reuben Wright was a farmer & Methodist-Episcopal minister. 

Thank you,

Diane Ethridge
Conroe, TX

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